How to Use Advanced Startup Options in Windows

Continue

Continue is available on the main Choose an option screen and says Exit and continue to Windows 11 (or Windows 10/8.1/8).

When you choose Continue, Advanced Startup Options will close, your computer will restart, and Windows will start in normal mode.

Obviously, if Windows isn't starting properly, the very fact that brought you to Advanced Startup Options, then heading right back into Windows probably won't be helpful.

However, if you found yourself on the ASO menu some other way, or are done with some other repair or diagnostic process, Continue is the quickest way out of Advanced Startup Options and back into Windows.

Use a Device

Use a device is available on the main Choose an option screen and says Use a USB drive, network connection, or Windows recovery DVD.

When you choose Use a device, a menu by that name appears, allowing you to boot from the various sources on your computer that are shown.

On most computers, you'll see options for USB storage devices, DVD or BD drives, network boot sources (even if you don't really have one of those set up), etc.

Troubleshoot

Troubleshoot is available on the main Choose an option screen and says Reset your PC or see advanced options.

In Windows 8, it says Refresh or reset your PC, or use advanced tools.

The Troubleshoot option opens up yet another menu, containing the Reset this PC and Advanced options items, both of which we discuss below.

The Troubleshoot menu is where all the repair and recovery features found in Advanced Startup Options are located, and is what you'll want to choose if you want to do anything other than exit the ASO menu.

Turn Off Your PC

Turn off your PC is available on the main Choose an option screen.

This option is pretty self-explanatory: it completely powers off your PC or device.

Reset This PC

Reset this PC is available from the Troubleshoot screen and says Lets you choose to keep or remove your files, and then reinstalls Windows.

Select Reset this PC to start the Reset This PC process, where you're given two additional options, Keep my files or Remove everything.

The first option, great for when your computer is running slow or is buggy, removes all installed software and apps and resets all Windows settings, but nothing personal will be removed, like documents, music, etc.

The second option, much like a "factory reset" and great for starting over completely or before getting rid of your computer, removes everything, including installed apps and programs, settings, personal files, etc.

There is a complete walkthrough of the reset process available, including more on which choice is best.

Advanced Options

Advanced options is available from the Troubleshoot screen.

The Advanced options option opens up yet another menu which contains the following items: System Restore, System Image Recovery, Startup Repair, Command Prompt, and Startup Settings, all of which we explain below in their own sections.

In Windows 10, if you're part of the Insider testing program, you'll also see a Go back to the previous build option.

The Advanced options menu is most similar to the System Recovery Options menu found in earlier versions of Windows.

System Restore

System Restore is available from the Advanced options screen and says Use a restore point recorded on your PC to restore Windows.

The System Restore option starts System Restore, the same time-machine-like "undo" tool you may have used or seen from within Windows.

A huge advantage of having the ability to use System Restore from the Advanced Startup Options menu is that you're doing so from outside of Windows 11/10/8.

For example, if you suspect some driver or registry issue is preventing Windows from starting properly, but find yourself in the unfortunate situation of not being able to start Windows so that you can then start System Restore, this option becomes very valuable.

System Image Recovery

System Image Recovery is available from the Advanced options screen and says Recover Windows using a specific system image file.

The System Image Recovery option starts the Re-image your computer feature of System Image Recovery, which is used to restore a previously-saved complete image of your computer.

This is a great option if you've unsuccessfully tried other tools available on the Advanced Startup Options menu. Of course, to use this, you or your computer maker must have proactively created a system image to re-image from.

Startup Repair

Startup Repair is available from the Advanced options screen and says Fix problems that keep Windows from loading.

The Startup Repair option starts, you guessed it, an automated startup repair procedure. If Windows 11, 10, or 8 isn't starting properly, like due to a BSOD or a serious "missing file" error, Startup Repair is an excellent first troubleshooting step.

Early versions of Windows 8 referred to Startup Repair as Automatic Repair.

Command Prompt

Command Prompt is available from the Advanced options screen and says Use the Command Prompt for advanced troubleshooting.

The Command Prompt option starts Command Prompt, the command-line tool you may be familiar with from within Windows.

Most commands that are available from the Command Prompt in Windows are also available in the Command Prompt included here as part of Advanced Startup Options.

When using the Command Prompt from Advanced Startup Options, be sure to verify the correct drive you're executing commands on. In most Windows installations, the drive Windows is installed on is designated as C while inside Windows, but as D while in the ASO menu.

This is because the C drive letter is given to a 350 MB system reserved partition that's normally hidden when you're in Windows, leaving D to be assigned to the drive Windows is installed on. If you're not sure, use the dir command to inspect the folders.